KVR Audio

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:46 pm

I wrote this song pretty quickly but spent a lot of time working on the details. Switching computers and DAWs in the middle slowed things down further. It came out pretty much as I had hoped. Any feedback is appreciated.

http://soundcloud.com/fragilegods/city-of-the-dead

The lyrics are on the SoundCloud link.

The cast in order of appearance:

Drumatic 4, SEM V, TAL-U-NO-LX, Diva, Rayblaster

EDIT: On September 3, I did a new mix lowering the vocals in the verses and choruses by roughly 1.5 dB. It's a very minor change.

Zombie Queen · Post by **Zombie Queen** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:01 pm

Smells like 80's wave, or electro-Chrome... with a pint of Camembert. Which is quite cool. Vocals are driven to the point when I can only figure out single words, but I'm not really good at it.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:11 pm

Zombie Queen wrote:Smells like 80's wave, or electro-Chrome... with a pint of Camembert.

Yeah, I'm definitely an 80s electro-chrome kind of guy.

Zombie Queen wrote:Vocals are driven to the point when I can only figure out single words, but I'm not really good at it.

I tried to make the words reasonably clear but I may not have succeeded. So I posted the lyrics on SoundCloud.

Thanks for the feedback.

Moe Shinola · Post by **Moe Shinola** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:00 pm

Cool Industrial-sounding tune. Great-sounding synths. I like the clarity, even though it's kinda grungy. I like the vocal sound best of all. Suitably evil.

layzer · Post by **layzer** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:16 pm

Ah Frantz, you did not disappoint! 2 big thumbs up

being a huge fan of 80's darkwave/industrial bands like Ministry
and skinny puppy, this had my toes happily tapping along.

technical wise, no complaints! vocals, stage, mix, all good
on this end, gooooood job!

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:36 am

The first thing that struck me (literally) was that slamming bass and kick/snare combo. I still haven't had the opportunity to use Drumatic 4 on a track yet, but I'm definitely making plans to do so.

Great synth sounds again. I liked the lyrics and thought that they were clearly audible. I liked the sung chorus. You sounded a little like Alex Harvey there. The mix is great too. This was a very enjoyable track.

Good work

Ooops · Post by **Ooops** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 3:00 pm

Nice! I like the sound of it and the dark 80's vibe

2 small problems imho.
1) The vocals are mixed too high. They would blend with the rest of the mix better if they were a little bit more on the back
2) The panning is sometimes extreme, making it tiresome to listen to with headphones.

But overall, I really dig it.

nineofkings · Post by **nineofkings** » Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:56 pm

Ooops wrote:Nice! I like the sound of it and the dark 80's vibe

2 small problems imho.
1) The vocals are mixed too high. They would blend with the rest of the mix better if they were a little bit more on the back
2) The panning is sometimes extreme, making it tiresome to listen to with headphones.

But overall, I really dig it.

I agree, more with the second point than the first. It definitely achieves the gritty vibe it's going for, though. The delay effect on the vocals at the end of the chorus was oh so tasty.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:58 am

Moe Shinola wrote:Cool Industrial-sounding tune. Great-sounding synths. I like the clarity, even though it's kinda grungy. I like the vocal sound best of all. Suitably evil.

Thanks for the feedback Moe. Clear, grungy, and evil. Mission accomplished!

I'm glad you liked the vocal sound. It is challenge to find something that works given my limited abilities in that department. I spent a lot of time fiddling around with various effects trying to find the right combination.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 5:20 am

layzer wrote:Ah Frantz, you did not disappoint! 2 big thumbs up
being a huge fan of 80's darkwave/industrial bands like Ministry
and skinny puppy, this had my toes happily tapping along.

Thanks, very glad you enjoyed it! I'm gonna keep doing my darkwave/industrial thing even if it is out of fashion. Maybe I should call it DarkStep so the kids'll dig it.

layzer wrote:technical wise, no complaints! vocals, stage, mix, all good
on this end, gooooood job!

Great! I worked hard on the mix including half a day on just reducing sibilance. I'm pleased that it passed the official Layzer Test.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 3:06 pm

Wow, my fave of yours for sure. You've nailed the vocal treatment here methinks, and the instrumentation and arrangement are tasteful and super catchy. Very nice work!

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:08 am

seismic1 wrote:The first thing that struck me (literally) was that slamming bass and kick/snare combo. I still haven't had the opportunity to use Drumatic 4 on a track yet, but I'm definitely making plans to do so.

The Drumatic 4 part is pretty minimal here although its sounds are very crisp and efficient. A lot that energy is coming from the dual SEM V basslines panned left and right.

It's quick and easy to make all kinds of percussive sounds with Drumatic. I am probably going to feature some metallic and white noise percussion sounds next time. There wasn't room to squeeze them in on this track.

seismic1 wrote: Great synth sounds again. I liked the lyrics and thought that they were clearly audible. I liked the sung chorus. You sounded a little like Alex Harvey there. The mix is great too. This was a very enjoyable track.

Thanks for confirming that you can hear the words.

It's funny that you mentioned that you liked the sung chorus. My brother also liked the chorus a lot. Maybe I should do more of that kind of singing in the future.

Glad to hear that you liked the lyrics, synth sounds, mix, etc. It's great to finally be on an i7 PC and not be so CPU constrained. The track would have sounded much thinner on my old PC. My tracks will probably sound better from here on out.

I appreciate the helpful feedback.

annode · Post by **annode** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:36 pm

I liked it.
Good job all around.
Although one could think of many '80s tunes that are structured in similar fashion, Eurythmics - Sex Crime slowed down a bunch hit me right off.

The drums and rhythmic seqing is where the similarities stopped.

Good tune and production.

any1particular · Post by **any1particular** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 6:58 pm

Nice recording here Frantz...all the lements are nice and clear no mud....how do you do that? like that mean moog ish bass.....nice sequencing too....

...parden me sill you please? I have an appointment in THE city of the Dead!!!!!!

HHHHHHHHHEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPP!!!!!!!!

Shangsean · Post by **Shangsean** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:50 am

Fun track. Made me smile and also made me want to do the robot. Very crisp sounding and I especially liked the vocals during the verses. I thought they were quite clear too.

Fragile Gods - "City of the Dead" (mix tweaked on September 3)